We Need More Diversity in Our Genomic Databases

December 4, 2018

(Scientific American) – The underrepresentation of nonwhite ethnic groups in scientific research and in clinical trials is a disturbing trend. The implications of this problem in the limited realm of clinical trials have been reported, but the roots of the disparity run much deeper. Human genomic databases—collections of all the genetic information that has been sequenced over the years—are also heavily skewed toward people of European descent.